Review by Booklist Review
Ages 2-4. This is both a joyful spring story and a basic manual for planting a garden. The very simple first-person narrative and bright, full-page gouache paintings have an appealing clarity and bounce. A smiling child in overalls holds one seed in her hand: "Carefully I place it in the ground." With her black cat for company, she waters the seed every day, watches, and waits. Then each page shows the plant growing bigger: "up to my knees," then "up to my nose," then blooming "over my head." The climax focuses on the glowing sunflower with its big yellow petals and seeds in the center--the cycle begins again. As in her Little Elephant (1993), Ford is direct and playful about natural things. (Reviewed Feb 15, 1995)0688133010Hazel Rochman
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1A story about a sunflower told from the point of view of a young child. The mood is one of pleased deliberation, care, and waiting as the narrator plants, waters, watches, and harvests a single, satisfying flower. The short, simple, sometimes fragmented sentences accumulate into a quiet, unrhymed poem. The words appear in large print on white pages with narrow, maize borders. Opposite each page of text is a flat, posterlike picture rendered in gouache, also bordered in maize. The illustrations are literal; opposite ``Up to my knees,'' readers see the plant backed by two sturdy legs and feet in purple socks and red sneakers. A black cat plays happily in the grass; it is never mentioned, but is always present as a watching friend. The book's pleasing simplicity as well as its subject matter is reminiscent of Jeanne Titherington's Pumpkin Pumpkin (Greenwillow, 1986). For a story with a little more information, try Elizabeth King's Backyard Sunflower (Dutton, 1993); it describes the flower's life cycle and is illustrated with photographs.Carolyn Jenks, First Parish Unitarian Church, Portland, ME (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Accompanied by her black cat, a small girl plants a sunflower seed and watches and waits for it to grow. 'Then, little green leaves. Up to my knees. Up to my nose. Over my head.' The simple, lyrical text chronicles the event for the youngest listener with just the right words. Noll's flat, bold illustrations, rendered in gouache paints, match the text as perfectly as the sunny yellow endpapers match the subject. From HORN BOOK 1995, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
This attractive preschool/primary grade science book follows the growth of a sunflower from seed to harvest. A girl plants a sunflower and watches it get taller and taller, until it has grown over her head and is ready to provide treats for the birds and herself, and more seeds to save for next year. The very large type seems intended for beginning readers or for groups; simple text provides no suspense, but simply describes the waiting and watering and watching. It is made up of brief sentences that are often grammatically in error, but always easy to comprehend, e.g., ``Every day I watch and wait. Then, little green leaves.'' Noll's cheerful goauche illustrations use soft colors for the waiting time, contrasting with the bright yellow of the sunflower when it finally blossoms. Children will be sure to notice and enjoy the girl's handsome black cat, which appears in each of the pictures, sleeping or playing or watching the birds. Collections with preschooler or beginning readers should find this a pleasant and useful addition. (Picture Book. 3-5)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
